"Apostle?" Zephyr repeated the word. It sounded foreign to his ears, yet not entirely unfamiliar.

He’d heard that term from Delilah before. During that previous attack, Delilah had told him about her encounter with a humanoid insect monster that introduced itself as an Apostle of Space named Axis. That creature possessed incredible power—even the Star Witch, Rank SSS, could barely defeat it, and in the end, it had managed to escape after he’d joined the fight.

So did that monster have something to do with the Apostle Eldertree mentioned?

Zephyr stared sharply at the old man before him. "What is an Apostle?"

Eldertree smiled thinly. "An Apostle, as the name suggests, is a messenger. An envoy. Those chosen to prepare for his arrival."

"Whose arrival?" Zephyr pressed.

"The arrival of the Archon of Creation."

The name echoed through the underground chamber. Zephyr felt a chill run down his spine. Archon of Creation. What kind of entity was that?

"Is he a god?" Zephyr asked. "Or a demon? Or a monster?"

Eldertree chuckled. "He could be a god, or a demon, or a monster—depending on how people perceive him."

Zephyr was speechless. What he was hearing was insane. Made no sense. But from the way Eldertree said it, from the conviction in his strangely glowing eyes, Zephyr knew this old man genuinely believed what he was saying.

"So all of this—your betrayal, your experiments, your connection with the Abyss Syndicate—all to prepare for his arrival?"

Eldertree nodded.

Zephyr raised his bow higher. The glowing arrow shone brightly at the string’s tip.

"You’ve gone mad, Alfred," he stated firmly, without doubt. "Now don’t move and surrender yourself."

Zephyr began walking slowly closer. His steps were careful, wary, but full of confidence. This old man couldn’t fight back. There was no way he could win against him.

But Eldertree just smiled bitterly.

"You’re the one forcing me to do this, Zephyr."

Zephyr stopped. There was a strange tone in Eldertree’s voice—a tone of resignation, but also a tone of victory.

"If you’d given me just one more year," Eldertree continued, his voice trembling, "I could have gathered lives from outside the city. From remote villages, from refugees, from those no one would miss. I could have saved this city, Zephyr. I could have saved all of you."

Zephyr frowned. "What do you mean?"

"But because of you..." Eldertree shook his head, his expression turning bitter. "Now you’ve truly left me no choice. I really didn’t want to sacrifice this city’s population and all of you. The plan was actually supposed to happen when the Abyss Dancer returned from the other world. When everything was ready."

Zephyr sensed something. Eldertree’s life energy—which had been calm, weak, like an ordinary old man—suddenly changed. Expanding. Blazing. Like a fire igniting within him.

"Don’t do anything strange, Alfred!"

Zephyr didn’t wait any longer.

FWOOSH!

His arrow shot toward Eldertree’s arm.

SHINK!

Eldertree’s right arm was severed. It flew, spinning through the air, then hit the floor with a wet thud.

"AAAARGHHH!"

Eldertree screamed. A heartbreaking scream of agony. Blood sprayed from his wound, soaking the floor, soaking his robes.

But—

That blood wasn’t normal. Black. Thick. And from within that black blood, something began to grow. Small, thin roots, spreading rapidly.

Zephyr’s eyes widened.

His bad feeling had become reality.

He gritted his teeth, deciding not to take any risks. He immediately drew his bowstring again. A new arrow formed in an instant. This time, no mercy—straight for the head.

FWOOSH! BAM!

Eldertree’s head exploded. Shattered into pieces. His body staggered, then fell.

Zephyr exhaled slowly. Though not entirely relieved yet. He tried to scan his surroundings. Nothing. Maybe...

Suddenly.

Zephyr’s eyes went wide.

He felt it—an enormous wave of energy. A foreign energy. An energy he had never felt before, enveloped the entire city of Gatehaven.

And before him, Eldertree’s corpse moved.

From his already destroyed body... it transformed. Roots grew from every piece of flesh, from every drop of black blood. They spread, connected, forming something new.

A tree. A monster. Who knows what.

One thing was clear: Eldertree was no longer human.

.

.

.

On the outskirts of Gatehaven, the great wall surrounding the city suddenly trembled.

The guards in the watchtowers exchanged confused glances. Before they could ask what was happening, the ground beneath them shook.

CRRRAAAK!

Giant roots emerged from within the earth. Their size was comparable to a dragon’s body. They crept upward, climbed the wall, wrapped around it, binding it, forming a massive web covering the entire surface of the wall.

Within minutes, Gatehaven’s city wall was no longer visible. All that remained were giant roots towering high, nearly reaching the sky, forming a massive prison trapping the entire city.

The citizens, already panicking from the earlier massive explosion, grew even more frantic. They screamed, ran, and tried to find shelter. But wherever they went, new roots kept emerging.

From underground, from building cracks, from main streets—the roots crept out. They moved quickly, targeting, binding, and pulling people.

A woman running while carrying her child suddenly tripped. Roots wrapped around her leg, pulling her to the ground. Her child fell, crying hysterically before suffering the same fate.

An old man hiding in his house screamed as roots pierced through his windows, grabbed his body, and dragged him out.

At the night market, merchants fled, abandoning their goods. But the roots were faster. One by one, they were caught, bound, hanging in the air like puppets.

Chaos erupted everywhere.

And above the sky, something happened.

The sky split open—a massive cross-shaped tear, vertical and horizontal lines dividing the heavens into four parts. From within that tear, red light blazed, illuminating the entire city with the hue of death.

Everyone stopped, their skin crawling. Everyone stared upward. Their mouths opened, but no sound came out.

Something was about to descend.

.

.

.

In the underground chamber, Zephyr witnessed all of this through his split eyes. He could feel the chaos throughout the city. Could feel the life energy of thousands of people being absorbed one by one by that foreign energy.

But before him, a bigger problem.

Eldertree—or whatever Eldertree had become—had completely transformed. His once frail, wrinkled body was now supported by giant roots. His severed arm had grown back—not a human arm, but tree branches sharp as spears. His once weary eyes now glowed dark red. And from his entire body, roots spread everywhere, connecting him to the ground, to the walls, to the entire room.

This ability... and what he had just done... Zephyr had never seen anything like it. To his knowledge, Eldertree did have an affinity with plants—he could grow trees, control roots, heal with plant sap. But not like this. Not this powerful. Not this terrifying.

"ZEPHYR!" Eldertree’s roar echoed. His voice was no longer human—there was a strange vibration, like the sound of thousands of roots scraping together.

The roots from throughout the room moved in unison. Shooting toward Zephyr like thousands of living spears.

Zephyr moved.

His split eyes saw five seconds into the future. He knew exactly where those roots would strike. He leaped, spun, dodged every attack with precalculated movements.

FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!

Between dodges, he released arrows. One by one, the roots were severed, destroyed, burned by the light of his arrows. But every root that broke, new roots grew. Every branch that shattered, new branches emerged.

"I’ll catch you!" Eldertree shouted. "You can’t run forever!"

Zephyr kept dodging. Leaping, rolling, spinning. The roots pursued him without pause, growing faster, more numerous.

He knew he had to end this now. Every passing second, the chaos in the city grew worse. Thousands could die.

Zephyr gathered his energy. The arrow on his bow began to change—growing larger, longer, shining brighter. A massive arrow the size of a utility pole formed at the string’s tip.

He leaped back, creating distance. The roots pursued, but he was ready.

FWOOSH—BOOM!

The massive arrow shot forward. Struck Eldertree’s body right in the center. An explosion of light filled the room, destroying everything around it.

Eldertree’s body shattered. Disintegrated. Nothing left.

But—

The roots didn’t stop.

From every piece of his body, from every fragment of flesh, from every drop of black blood, new roots grew. Faster, more numerous. They connected, merged, and reforming Eldertree’s body in seconds.

Eldertree emerged again, whole and unharmed.

"USELESS!" His roar thundered. "YOU CAN’T KILL ME! I’VE BECOME ONE WITH HIM!"

Zephyr gritted his teeth. His efforts were futile. Every time he destroyed Eldertree’s body, it would regenerate. And every time it regenerated, Eldertree grew more enraged, stronger, harder to control.

He needed one final attack. One strike that could destroy Eldertree’s entire body at once, down to the last particle. But such an attack took time. Concentration. An enormous amount of energy. And time was something he didn’t have right now.

While constantly dodging the relentless root attacks, it was impossible to gather all that.

"What have you done, Alfred?!" Zephyr shouted between dodges. "You’ve gone mad! You’ll destroy everything!"

Eldertree laughed. A terrifying laugh, mixed with the sound of scraping roots. "The world is ending, Zephyr! Because I’ve summoned him! It’s not time yet, but you forced me! Now nothing can stop him!"

Zephyr was nearly desperate. He tried to contact Delilah through his earpiece—but since that explosion, their communication devices were damaged.

He was alone.

Suddenly.

FWOOSH!

Something shot from behind him. A golden light spear struck Eldertree right in the center of his body. A second explosion occurred, larger than before.

Zephyr turned.

Delilah.

The Star Witch appeared beside him, flying with six shimmering light orbs circling her. Her white dress was slightly torn in places, her golden hair somewhat disheveled, but she seemed fine. Those six light orbs—her shields—had protected her from Ashen Tide’s suicide explosion. Though the impact was strong, she had survived.

"Star Witch!" Zephyr almost smiled with relief.

Delilah stared at Eldertree, who was beginning to regenerate again. Her golden eyes narrowed.

"What’s happening here?"

"Alfred," Zephyr answered quickly. "He’s gone mad. He’s summoned something—the Archon of Creation. All this chaos in the city is his doing."

Delilah looked around. Through the destroyed walls, she could sense the chaos outside. Giant roots. People screaming. The sky was torn open.

Her gaze returned to Eldertree, now fully regenerated. The tree monster stared at them both with glowing red eyes.

But when his gaze met Delilah’s, something changed.

Eldertree... was afraid.

He stepped back. His roots trembled.

"Star... Witch..." he whispered, his voice trembling.

Then, without warning, Eldertree turned and ran. Fleeing. His roots pulled him into the ground, trying to escape.

"Don’t let him get away!" Zephyr shouted.

But Delilah was already moving. She raised her hand. The six light orbs around her shot forward, forming a large circle above the area. From that circle, a golden light shield descended rapidly, trapping Eldertree inside.

Eldertree slammed into the shield. Rebounded. Tried again. Rebounded again. His roots crept, trying to penetrate, but the shield was too strong.

"NO!" he roared. "NO! I CAN’T—"

Delilah didn’t give him time.

Her other hand raised to the sky. And from the sky, something descended.

A falling star. But not an ordinary star. A massive golden spear, the size of a multi-story building, descended from the heavens at incredible speed. Around it, the air burned from friction, creating a trail of blazing fire. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Eldertree saw it. His red eyes widened in terror.

"NO! NO! I DON’T WANT—"

BOOM!

The massive spear struck. Right where the shield trapped Eldertree.

The explosion was extraordinary. More devastating than Ashen Tide’s suicide blast. Shockwaves spread in all directions, destroying the remaining buildings nearby. The ground shook violently. Hot air burned whatever remained.

Zephyr and Delilah retreated, shielding themselves with Delilah’s barrier.

After a moment, the dust began to settle. Where Eldertree had been, now only a massive crater remained.

Eldertree, or whatever was left of him, had completely vanished.

But the chaos in the city wasn’t over. The giant roots still towered. Strange trees still grew. And in the sky, that cross-shaped tear still gaped open, as if waiting for something to descend.